Currently, there is substantial research activity directed toward the discovery and optimization of new materials, including the discovery of new pharmaceuticals. Additionally, substantial research is being directed to formation and processing of such materials. Although the characteristics of these materials including chemistry of the materials, properties exhibited by the materials and the like have been extensively studied, it is often not possible to predict the properties or characteristics that a particular material will exhibit under various conditions or the precise composition and architecture that will result from any particular synthesis scheme. Thus, characterization techniques are an essential part of the discovery process.
Combinatorial chemistry refers generally to methods for synthesizing a collection of chemically diverse materials and/or to methods for rapidly testing or screening this collection of materials for desirable performance characteristics and properties. Combinatorial chemistry approaches have greatly improved the efficiency of discovery of useful materials. For example, material scientists have developed and applied combinatorial chemistry approaches to discover a variety of novel materials, including for example, high temperature superconductors, magnetoresistors, phosphors and catalysts. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,359 (Schultz, et al). In comparison to traditional research, combinatorial research can effectively evaluate much larger numbers of diverse compounds in a much shorter period of time. Although such high-throughput synthesis and screening methodologies are conceptually promising, substantial technical challenges exist for application thereof to specific research and commercial goals.
Recent growth in pre-formulation research (e.g., as may be found for instance in salt selection studies, polymorph studies or the like), in connection with the development of new pharmaceuticals, has driven the need for improved techniques for analyzing properties and characteristics of research candidates. For example, one important consideration in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and other particulated materials is the response of the materials to the environment it is likely to encounter, such as the response of the material to moisture (e.g., humidity). For instance, there is a particular need for the ability to measure small changes in mass occasioned by the uptake or loss of moisture in the material.